Louis Philippe de Grandelumiere
Louis Philippe de Grandelumiere (born 10th June, 1698) is the Duc d'Orleans. The younger brother of the Empress, he was not granted succession because he was born after the death of the preceding Emperor, his great-grandfather. Early Life and Family Louis Philippe was born in the Chateau d'Argenteuil, one month after his older sister's accession. His father was the deceased Dauphin, Louis Auguste, who died shortly before he was born. His mother, Louise Therese de Penthievre, was a noble of high birth from the House Penthievre. His great-grandfather, the Emperor Louis XIII, died also before he was born, thus leading to the succession to go to his older sister, Marie Sophie. Shortly following his birth, Louis was granted the title of Duc d'Orleans, styled at court as "Monsieur." The Court around him was rather pleased of his birth, though it was quite an odd situation. There was at first a small clash between the Empress and the court in the beginning because of Louis's birth. Louis's childhood was often filled with spending time with his sisters until he was privately educated by order of his mother. By age 11, Louis was proficient in Mathematics, Philosophy, Latin, and Military Strategy. He was known for his looks in his youth and his general charms. At court he was given respect in large part due to his position as "Monsieur" and as well being the Duc d'Orleans. Younger courtiers were especially pushed by their parents to attend to him because of this. He would gain popularity for his dashing looks among the court ladies. Louis liked to be the center of attention whenever the Empress herself was absent from court. His general charm with women was helpful in keeping various women placated, but garnered deep scorn from his sister. Though he would like to help where he could despite this difference. The Duc became a very influential noble in fashion in his youth. It was rarely contested, only being overridden by the Emperor-Consort, and later the Dauphin . Marriage As Louis grew into a devilishly handsome man with a fresh face at court, the Empress his sister knew that it was before long until he would eventually marry. She wished for the Duc d'Orleans to marry someone who would balance him, someone who would make him happy but tether him to the Earth as it was known. After staving off countless offers, the Empress selected Isabelle Adelaide de Rochechouart de Mortemart, a worthy enough choice. The Marquis de Louvois once commented that the wedding was "rather somber and cold, but beautiful and suiting of the couple." The beauty of the wedding's lavish ceremony was equally matched by the vast ball and countless parties thrown in the couple's honor. That being said, it was noted that the marriage was seemingly destined to fail, the initial night being filled with nervous laughter rather than duties of consummation. Despite this, however, the couple almost instantly had a rather affectionate beginning. While it took a while for passion to grow, intimacy was instantaneous. By the end of 1717, the couple had consummated their marriage. After some sad struggle and loss of 2 children to miscarriage, as was common for the time, Adelaide finally was successful in bearing a child, a daughter named Sophie Therese, in 1719. The Duc d'Orleans was displeased at having a daughter, but loved his daughter very much. He wanted the world for his new family, now growing, and would often go out of his way to ensure their happiness. The Duc d'Orleans would spend much of his time between raising his daughter at court and attending to business as usual. through the early 1730's the marriage between the Monsieur and Madame was beginning to strain, ushering in a new era for the Duc d'Orleans Later Life As his marriage strained, Philippe began to act oddly. In January of 1737, the Duc began a very oddly public affair with the Mademoiselle de Mortemart (future Marquise de Montespan), thus causing quite a bit of scandal for the family. Louis would spend many an hour with the Mademoiselle, avoiding his own family. He also would begin to spend rather extravagantly. Even before the Marquise's death, he would spend quite a bit on her, along with himself. The Marquise's death would mark the end of an era for Louis, who would soon wither in happiness only to be embittered by life itself. The bleakness of his days soon overcame him, and he would spend his time at court a bitter man. He took comfort in spending time with the older Marquis de Louvois. The two would talk about the Empress's predecessor, who the Marquis remembered living under. The depressed and withered old Marquis did little to help the situation, as he dragged the Duc with him into depressive and bitter states of mind. After the Marquis died very suddenly, Louis spoke to the departed's son, saying: "For years I've watched the sun rise and then fall and now that I age the sun seems to always fall when I go out to adore it's light." His relationship with his daughter also took a very serious hit. After she was alleged to have begun an affair with the Dauphin, he called her to his presence, and struck the Mademoiselle for her actions as he staunchly disapproved. As word got out, scandal once again plagued the family and things were only turning for the worst. The two had yet another fight only a few weeks later when the Mademoiselle refused to attend court because of his presence. He sent a guard to her, and she remarked "I'd much rather afford to choke upon a pastry than be in the same room as he." This of course flew Monsieur into a violent and raging storm of emotion. She was praying at the Chapel, when Louis, taking a guard and the Grand Maitre de la Maison with him, interrupted her prayers. Louis argued biblical context, stating that the disobedience of parents was a disobedience of God's law. She was very angered and the two argued very acrimoniously. Before the Duc would strike his daughter once again, he resolved a worse punishment; Sophie was sent to a convent for 30 days, being allegedly pregnant with a guard at the time, though the court knew not of the latter. While she was absent, the Duc d'Orleans was racked with the trappings and chance that his daughter, who was at present unmarried, was pregnant with an illegitimate heir. Should this get out, it would bring the Duc's family in conflict, including that with his sister, as well as drove the private lives of the Duc and his daughter to the center of court gossip. Her return to court brought upon the realization that Louis had created a circle of friends: Mademoiselle de Mortemart, Monsieur le Prince, and supposedly the Dauphin and Grand Maitre de la Maison, the latter pairing possibly merely trying to maintain order and stability within the household. The two sides to this conflict continued to cause tension in Court. This eventually boiled over, not long after the Duc d'Orleans suffered a stroke that left him with a rather ghastly limp and difficulty of walking for long periods, and partial facial paralysis. After his daughter birthed the illegitimate child, the newborn was taken out of court immediately and was thereafter drowned by order of the Cardinal de Mortemart. The scandal of this was followed by a destructive tendency of both the Mademoiselle and the Monsieur, who both were in a blood-thirsty competition to best one another. This came to a head after the Monsieur, who at this point had acquired a mound of debt reaching 666,650₶ and his daughter doing no better at 323,100₶. The two were acting so horribly towards one another at the wedding Reception of the Grande Maitre de la Maison and Mademoiselle de Penthievre. This led to the Mademoiselle being sent away and the Monsieur was disgraced. After his debts were finally cleared, the Monsieur was eventually reunited with his daughter, a month or so following the great fallout of before. This however was far from the end of Monsieur's troubles. The Monsieur was eventually caught in a court argument for te idea of family upbringings. Several courtiers began to argue that the parents should take on the role of the Governess in raising their children, which was argued in favor by the Philosophes, a group that Monsieur was known to sympathize with. On the other hand, the Absolutistes continued to argue for tradition. The Monsieur and the 25 year old Marquis de Louvois ended up getting in a rather heated argument over this, and insults were thrown. As time progressed, Monsieur's daughter the Mademoiselle would be married to Louis Paul de Mortemart who was heir to House Mortemart. They would have a daughtr which consumated the marriage. Monsieur was not pleased with a granddaughter but accepted it. A year later the Mademoiselle would have another daughter. When the gender was announced it was rumored that Monsieur stormed out of the room. But, over time Monsieur would accept it and send numerous of gifts to his Grand Children. When Marie (Mademoiselle oldest daughter) visited court Monsieur was said to smile so bright that he looked young again. He spent much time with his Granddaughter that day, taking her through the gardens, having tea with her, and teaching her how to play cards. Madame, did spend time with Marie as well with Monsieur. In Moniseur's journal he wrote "I can redeem myself being a better Grandfather than I was a Father to my child." Category:Fils de Grandelumiere Category:17th Century Births Category:House Blois Category:Grandelumierian Nobility Category:Births at Argenteuil